Greetings! The name is Time Lizzy, or Time as my friends call me. They/Them pronouns. I love to try new things, draw, sing, dance, garden, and I do some witchcraft in my free time. I'm a Hetalia role playing partner if you guys are interested.
AO3 offer a comfortable, no payment, ad-free service in exchange for donations specifically to KEEP THE WEBPAGE UP AND RUNNING and people still complain?!
THIS is what I have been dealing with on a constant basis for the past six months.
In December 2017 I was first notified of my [Yin Yang Rats] design being sold unauthorized on the website AliExpress. I wrote a [Journal] at the beginning of the year explaining how difficult and time-consuming it was to remove. Unfortunately, my battle was not over as I have been chasing down thefted and altered versions of my design across the internet ever since.
I cannot even put into words how frustrating and disheartening this kind of thing is. This design is very special to me and I created it with everyone who loves rats in mind. It is an absolute disgrace to my artwork and an insult to me as an artist to see my work stolen, altered and slapped onto products without a second thought as to who made it or what it represents. Instead of being able to create new art, I’ve had to spend all my time and energy in hunting this theft down, writing DMCA Takedown notices, and corresponding with various legal departments. I am absolutely exhausted. My motivation to draw is lost. I’ve had to spend so much energy just to defend myself and the fight is far from over.
Recently, things took an even worse turn. One of the places listed here – MerchVibes on Etsy – submitted a counter-claim to my report of copyright infringement. The only way to proceed is with a court order. I am completely and utterly lost. My art has been stolen, altered, and sold without my permission and now I have to go to court if I want anything to be done about it. I’m looking to register this artwork with a copyright, but since it’s happening after the infringement, I don’t know how much good it will do. I’m also looking into what to do about getting a lawyer, despite having absolutely no money to afford one and no idea who to trust. It’s an utter mess I don’t even have the energy to elaborate on.
I am not the only artist that these places have stolen from. PLEASE let artists know if you recognize their art being used without permission:
I know it is unfair to put the burden of fact-checking on the consumer. You should be able to trust that the products you buy are legitimate. Unfortunately that is far from the truth of things. Please, please scrutinize companies – especially those online – before you buy products with artwork on them. Be suspicious if the store has a wide and conflicting range of art styles and images. Most of these places are even too lazy to crop off the signatures and copyrights of the artists. And please god if you are a tattoo artist or looking to get a tattoo, it is SO easy to ask the artist for permission or even commission a custom one! I put my artwork online so that I can make a living, NOT so you can steal it!
This is legitimately the kind of thing that destroys artists like me. I am losing profits, I am losing time, I am losing motivation and I am losing the will to even create and share my work. I do not get reimbursed for any of these things. I do not get exposure. This problem does not go away. I do not get to “win” anything. I will probably be dealing with this for the rest of my artistic career. If I want to continue to put up a fight against intellectual property theft, it is likely going to get expensive. I don’t want to resort to begging, but if anyone would like to help support me and the continued creation of my artwork, please consider donating via [Paypal] or [Ko-fi], or making a purchase from my [Etsy], [RedBubble], or [TeePublic] stores. Thank you ♥
Why this has just 100 notes
Please signal boost this, lets protect the artists! This is absolutely outrageous!!
I have so many weird ideas revolving around Deceit that could be great pieces of art in the right hands but they’re so batshit insane
OK y’all asked for it so I present to you and warn you of the odd depths of Cole’s mind:
Deceit encounters a cauliflower. He is suspicious and engages in a staring contest. Who wins is up to you
Deceit slithers in the shadows and makes vaguely drunk noises
Deceit has a sombrero. No one is sure why
Deceit uses his bowler hat like a bowl. It has a faint scent of ranch dressing
Deceit has gloves on his feet. Not socks. Gloves
Deceit can do the macarena and uses it in a way of asserting dominance. Oftentimes Logan viciously T-Poses in response
Virgil has a can of something labeled ‘snake juice’. He rolls it at Deceit sometimes just to keep him on his toes. The can is in reality filled with beetroot juice.
Deceit is a master opera singer
Deceit is Queer Eye stan #2, #1 being Logan, much to everyone’s consternation
Deceit once barked at a Bearded Dragon in hopes of invoking confusion and fear in it.
Deceit likes to roll around dramatically like Draco Malfoy in a Very Potter Musical whenever he enters a conversation
Deceit creeps outside. He looks around furtively. He spies a tree. He stealthily approaches it. He snaps off a twig. He chews it. It is woody.
Deceit is the household lawnmower
Deceit furiously pursues a hobby in button collecting
Deceit likes to snort raw baking flour. He likes The Sneeze
Deceit has a bunch of trinkets hidden in the crawl space.
Deceit wears Febreeze like perfume and wears Pam Cooking spray as skin lotion
Deceit has broken most of his toohbrushes
Deceit throws socks at people he dislikes. This is where Virgil acquired most of his socks
Sometimes Deceit likes to faceplant on a cold waffle iron, concerning Patton
He bites avocados like apples
Deceit has stolen many of Logan’s desk lamps for reptilian purposes
Deceit has never washed a single dish in his life
Deceit once liked Indiana Jones so much he ate the DVD
He has a pet snail that he carries around on his shoulder
Deceit likes the cotton eyed joe
Deceit wiggles bonelessly when playing monopoly
Deceit does not play monopoly
Deceit drinks relish
Deceit crinkles when he moves like a rice krispie treat wrapper. Not any other kind of wrapper. Fucking rice krispie
He likes to chew on raw coconuts. He likes the tingle
Deceit, in short, is a general concern to the Sides
personally I like to think steve’s birthday isn’t actually July 4th but someone asked him when his birthday was when he was doing his little show tour thingy and he just said it as an accident and/or a panic response in a bid to seem even more patriotic and everyone believed him and now it’s like 100 years later and he’s too deep in the lie to back out now bc he knows all the avenger’s would fucking publicly roast him if he admitted july 4th wasn’t actually his birthday- like he would literally never live that down- so he lives his life in fear that some bitch ass historian is gonna find his birth certificate and expose him
avengers: happy birthday, steve!
bucky, eyes narrowing: what the fuck your birthday isn’t until-
steve, holding back tears: shut up
Bucky tries to hand him a birthday card one cold December day, and Steve tackles him out a window before anyone else can see what he’s holding
personally I like to think steve’s birthday isn’t actually July 4th but someone asked him when his birthday was when he was doing his little show tour thingy and he just said it as an accident and/or a panic response in a bid to seem even more patriotic and everyone believed him and now it’s like 100 years later and he’s too deep in the lie to back out now bc he knows all the avenger’s would fucking publicly roast him if he admitted july 4th wasn’t actually his birthday- like he would literally never live that down- so he lives his life in fear that some bitch ass historian is gonna find his birth certificate and expose him
avengers: happy birthday, steve!
bucky, eyes narrowing: what the fuck your birthday isn’t until-
steve, holding back tears: shut up
Bucky tries to hand him a birthday card one cold December day, and Steve tackles him out a window before anyone else can see what he’s holding
Think Things 